We're a Team Without an I'
by Hecate28
Summary: A Series of OneShots About Jack and Clarissa.
1. Hide and Seek

'**We're a Team Without an I': A Series of Oneshots About Jack and Clarissa**

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This is going to be a series of one-shots about Jack and Clarissa because they are awesome and have such a great relationship between them. David Caves and Liz Carr are such great actors so I hope I can do their portrayals some justice in this. Some, but not all, of these will be set pre-Lyell centre (i.e. before Jack and Clarissa join in Series 16) because I want to explore the history of their relationship.

* * *

**1. Hide and Seek**

**Author's Note: This one has a few swear words in, so be warned.**

Jack was hiding under the desk. Or rather attempting to hide under the desk, something impeded by his large frame. Nevertheless he had attempted to condense his body into the small space in order to conceal himself. And he was sure nobody would notice

"That's probably the worst attempt at a hiding place I've ever seen," Jack stuck his head out from underneath the desk and saw Clarissa with a slightly bemused look on her face

"Ssh!" he hissed "Don't give me away,"

"Give you away?" Clarissa said incredulously "I could see your legs sticking out a mile off," she sighed "Why are you hiding anyway?"

"I accidently slept with the Detective Inspector's daughter and now he's threatening to castrate me," Jack explained

"How can you accidently sleep with someone?"

"She was upset and I was comforting her," Jack said "And one thing led to another…"

"Of course…" Clarissa shook her head "How many times have I told you, not where you work,"

"This is a one off," Jack tried to assure her "It won't happen again,"

"It certainly won't if the Detective Inspector catches you," Clarissa smirked

As if on cue, this DI in question stormed into the lab "Where is the rat-bastard who shagged my daughter?"

"I don't know who you're talking about?" Clarissa shrugged as Jack pulled himself under the desk again

"Jack Bloody Hodgson, that's who,"

"He's at a crime scene," Clarissa lied

"Well when he gets back, tell him that when I find him I am going to cut off his testicles and string them up around the lab,"

"Will do," she called as the DI left the lab slamming the door behind him "You owe me big time," Clarissa said as Jack peeked out from under the desk

"What would I do without you," he grinned "We make such a great team, I promise if I ever get to set up my own forensics' department you can come with me,"

"Oh joy," Clarissa said sarcastically


	2. Phone Call

**2. Phone call**

Clarissa and Jack had been working together for three months when Clarissa decided to broach the issue. She had noticed Jack had been receiving fairly regular phone calls which always put him in a bad mood afterwards. And when Jack was in a bad mood, he went looking for a fight. Clarissa understood it was his way of gaining release but she still worried all the same. Particularly giving that he didn't seem very good at it, from the amount of cuts and bruises on his face.

They were working together, processing some fingerprint when his phone rang. Unable to deal with another one of Jack's bad moods and also in an attempt to satisfy her own curiosity, she grabbed the phone before Jack could reach it and read the name on the screen.

Chrissie Reed.

"I'm sorry Jack can't come to the phone right now," Clarissa said and put the phone down

"Why did you do that?" Jack glared at her

"Who is she?" Clarissa asked

"No one," Jack said sullenly "It's complicated," he added when he saw Clarissa was not satisfied with his first response

"It always is with you Jack," Clarissa said turning back to her work, leaving Jack to sulk.

They worked in silence for several hours; Clarissa knew it wasn't he time to push Jack for answers, so she decided to wait him out. They were almost at the end of their shift when he finally spoke.

"She was someone I cared about," he said quietly, not making eye contact with Clarissa

"Is she someone you still care about?" Clarissa asked gently

"No!" Jack said quickly. Too quickly for it to be convincing "I'm done here for tonight. I've got to go somewhere," he said pulling on his jacket

"Jack Hodgson you stay right where you are!" Clarissa said sternly "Don't you dare even think about going fighting tonight,"

"What are you, my mother?" he snapped

"No, I'm your friend" Clarissa said and suddenly Jack's face softened

"I'm sorry," he murmured sitting back down

"I know Jack," she nodded

"I screwed things up. With her, with my job, with everything," Jack sighed putting his head in his hands

"We all make mistakes," Clarissa said softly

"Do you make mistakes?" he said turning to look at her

"Of course I don't," she said with a grin "Haven't you realised yet, I know absolutely everything,"

"Well how do I solve this then?" Jack said gesturing to his phone

"By buying me a drink," Clarissa said and Jack snorted with laughter

"You're one of a kind, you know that?" he said and for the first time that day she saw him smile.

Jack didn't go cage-fighting that night.

Or the next.

Clarissa was proud of him for that. She was slightly less proud when he came in hung-over, but they could work on that. Anyway she was still nursing her own hangover, not that she would ever let Jack know that.

She'd keep making him think she was omniscient for a while yet.


	3. Fanboy

**3. Fanboy **

**Author's Note: Just a warning that there's a little bit of swearing in this one**

"And have you seen this article," Jack said pushing the wad of paper towards Clarissa "In this paper Professor Dalton argues for the combination of forensic science and forensic pathology,"

"Very nice Jack," Clarissa said glancing at the paper

"Nice!" Jack said looking exasperated at her half-heated response "This is radical forward thinking. Professor Dalton is nothing short of genius!"

He took back the paper and started to skim read it, his eyes brightly shining with enthusiasm.

"Do you not know that off by heart yet?" Clarissa asked

Jack shook his head "I want to read it again, to go over the finer points,"

"You said that the last time you read it," Clarissa teased "And the time before that, and the time before that, and the time before that…"

Jack rolled his eyes and turned back to the paper "I wish I could meet Professor Dalton face to face to discuss his work," Jack sighed wistfully

"You could get him to autograph the article," Clarissa said sarcastically

"I might even get to work with him," Jack said completely missing the sarcasm "How amazing would that be if I could do what he say in this paper?. I could set up my own forensic science lab and work with his forensic pathology centre,"

Clarissa barely suppressed a snort of laughter as she watched Jack drift off into his dream world once more as he tapped away at his computer keyboard. As much as she admired his enthusiasm she still found it very amusing and took every opportunity to tease Jack about it.

"Holy shit! Jack exclaimed suddenly "Clarissa, have you seen this? Professor Dalton's just published a new article!"

Clarissa winced at the stream of excited expletives that tumbled out of Jack's mouth as he rushed to print the article off and add it to his collection. She dreaded to think what would actually happen if Jack met Leo Dalton face to face, but she had a feeling it would probably begin with a stream of swear words from the overenthusiastic Irishman.


	4. Concussion

**4. Concussion **

A soft beeping sound was echoing in Jack's ears, which was not helping the pounding in his head. He tried to open his eyes and winced at the bright light.

"You're not dead then?" he heard a familiar sarcastic voice and tried to open his eyes again

This time he succeeded and was met with the face of Clarissa

"Where am I?" he groaned as his eyes started to adjust

"Hospital," she replied watching as he slowly tried to sit up "Apparently you were cage-fighting again,"

"Did I win?" he asked hopefully

"What do you think?" Clarissa said rolling her eyes

Jack winced as a pain shot through his ribs when he tried to shift his position on the bed

"You've broken a rib and have a mild concussion," Clarissa informed him "They're keeping you in overnight for observation. Personally, I recommended that they punch you in the face again instead, in the hope that it might knock some sense into you,"

"Why exactly are you here?" Jack frowned. He had been hoping for sympathy not sarcasm

"Well you apparently need someone to support you," Clarissa said "I actually came here to mock your pain but I could stretch to some half-hearted sympathy if you really want," she grinned

"I think I'll pass on that one," Jack said leaning back on the pillows

"Why do you do it?" Clarissa asked after a moment's silence

Jack paused before answering "Release," he said and Clarissa this was a rare moment where the macho barriers had come down and Jack was being fully open with her

"What do you need release from?" she prompted gently

"The stress of working with you," he quipped and Clarissa saw that the barriers had come back up once more

Just then a nurse entered the cubicle and Jack turned his attention towards her flashing her one of his most charming smiles

"I just need to check your obs Mr Hodgson," the nurse said

"Jack," he corrected "And go ahead," he said leaning back grinning at her

"I'll leave you to it," Clarissa said "I'll call you in the morning. Try not to lose any more brain cells Jack," she said rolling her eyes as Jack continued to flirt with the nurse.

She knew this was all an act. His hyper masculinity always came out in times like these, it was his defence mechanism. Yet as much as it annoyed her, it also worried her. This time is was only a concussion and a broken rib, but it could have been far worse. She knew that she had the ability to see past Jack's macho barriers and that was what made their relationship work so well. She could read him like a book and right now she knew that he was feeling more vulnerable than was being expressed. And that worried her more than anything.

Meanwhile back in the cubicle, Jack was finally left on his own. Clarissa had gone home and the nurse had finished checking him over, although her could see her gossiping with the other female nurses. He assumed from their glances at him that he was the topic of conversation. Very few people saw past his bravado, except Clarissa. Jack turned over in the bed and winced as the pain shot through his body once more.

He tried closing his eyes to block everything out, but the hustle and bustle of the ward mixed with the pain was keeping him awake. He wasn't sure if it was because of the pain from his injuries, the frustration of losing the fight or just raw emotion, but he felt a few tears slip down his face. His blinked several times opening his eyes, and once more he was met with the welcome sight of Clarissa.

"What?" she said questioning the shocked looked on his face "You didn't think I'd really leave you alone in a time like this did you?"

Jack smiled gently, relief flowing through her body as he gripped her hand tightly.

"I swear if you tell anyone about this…" he began

She shook her head "I won't tell anyone Jack, you should know me better by now. But I should point out that you're most definitely in my debt right now and I always expect my favours to be repaid. You owe me big time Jack" she informed him

"Don't I always?"


	5. Birthday

**5. Birthday **

Clarissa was not having a particularly good day. She'd spent most of the day examining maggots, only to be constantly criticised by the extremely arrogant detective that was working on the case. It took all her willpower not to unleash the tidal wave of angry sarcasm. Her day was made even worse by the fact it was her birthday. Whist Clarissa wasn't bothered about being one year older, age was just a number after all, but she really hated having to spend it on her own.

Jack had been in and out of the lab for most of the day attending various crime scenes and they hadn't had a chance to talk, aside from a couple of sentences as he dashed out of the lab once more. He hadn't even wished her a 'Happy Birthday' or even made a sarcastic comment about her age. In fact his lack of comments on the significance of the day made Clarissa think that he'd forgotten. That was something that certainly didn't brighten her mood.

"I'm back!" she looked up to see Jack hurtling into the office once more

"So I see," Clarissa replied as Jack sat down, shrugging off his leather jacket in the process

"What's up with you?" he said, noting her despondent tone

"Nothing,"

"Is it the Detective?" Jack asked "Is he annoying you again? Do you want me to beat him up for you?" Jack asked with a grin, although Clarissa wasn't sure he was only joking about beating the Detective up

"I think I'll pass," she said turning back to her work

"Fair enough," Jack nodded "I'll catch you later, I've got to go and sort these samples out," he said leaving the room once more.

Clarissa angrily poked one of the maggots in frustration. She thought that Jack of all people would remember her birthday. They were supposed to be friends after all.

Suddenly she caught sight on something colourful out of the corner of her eyes. She looked up, at the place where Jack had been sitting moments before and saw a large bunch of flowers sitting there, with a small card attached:

_Happy Birthday_

_(Old git!)_

_J x_

_P.S You didn't really think I'd forgotten did you? _

_P.P.S Drinks later?_

She glanced across the lab to see Jack watching her with a grin plastered across his face. Clarissa knew that she should have known better than to try and second guess Jack. He always knew how to surprise her.

The obnoxious detective stormed into the lab once more and Clarissa watched Jack crack his knuckles. Somehow she thought this was only the beginning of the surprises he had in store for her today.


	6. Scout's Honour

**6. Scout's Honour **

"I've just been called to a scene," Jack informed Clarissa as he hurtled though the lab "It's at a hotel; apparently it John Briggs. You know, the guy who owns the candy company. Sounds interesting," he said gleefully

"You needn't sound so pleased," Clarissa frowned at his tactlessness "Someone has died after all,"

"Sorry," he said as he paused to slip on his jacket "I bet it will turn out to be an open and shut case in reality. I was going to ask you something. The forensic pathologist attending the scene is a Doctor Nikki Alexander, have you heard of her?"

Clarissa shook her head "Be on your best behaviour though Jack," she warned "After the incident with the Chief Inspector's daughter you can't be too careful,"

"Hey I'm still firing with both cylinders," he said glancing down at his crotch

"Way too much information," Clarissa said shaking her head and screwing up her eyes in an attempt to remove that particular image from her brain

"I promise I'll be good," he said "Scout's honour,"

"Were you ever a boy scout?" she asked suspiciously

He paused "Sort of. I attended scouts for a bit, before I got kicked out,"

"What did you do?"

"Set a couple of tents on fire," Jack shook his hand "No big deal,"

Clarissa decided she didn't really want to know any more details. When it came to Jack's personal life, ignorance was bliss "Well hurry along. Don't keep Doctor Alexander waiting,"

"She's a woman; I'll get there hours before her. I bet she's still choosing what shoes to wear," Jack said and Clarissa threw a scrunched up paper ball at him which hit him squarely on the forehead "I bet she'll be a real push over. You'll see, I'll having her eating out of the palm of my hand in no time,"

"Five pounds, says she'd threatens to hit you in the face," Clarissa says

"Deal," Jack said and they shook on it "She'll be a real pussycat, I just know it,"

How wrong Jack was. And how five pounds richer Clarissa was.


	7. Split Lip

**7. Split Lip**

When Jack had arrived back at the lab with a cut on his lip, Clarissa knew what he'd been up to. He'd gone to catch up with Chrissie Reed, to try and make a go of things and he'd come back in a foul mood with a split lip. She found him in the locker room, leaning over one the sinks, glaring at his reflection in the mirror as he inspected his lip

"I'm sorry," Clarissa said "You're too good for her Jack,"

"How do you know this is about Chrissie?"

"I know you well enough by now Jack," she said "Let me look at your lip," Clarissa offered and he stooped so they were eye to eye

"You should see the other guys," Jack said trying to make a joke

"Guys? Plural. You took on more than one? You brave solider!" she said sarcastically "There must be a medal in it for you somewhere," she poked at his lip

"Ow! He winced, pulling back

"It doesn't look too deep," she told him "But Jack you can't keep going on like this,"

"Well it doesn't matter anymore. When it comes to Chrissie, I'm through with her. I was right about her from the start. She's toxic and I want nothing more to do with her,"

Clarissa didn't entirely believe Jack. He might have been good at tending to his physical wounds but he just ignored the emotional ones. They too were capable of festering like any physical cut. The wound Chrissie Reed had left on his heart was a deep one. Clarissa wished she could help him fix that as easily as she had helped him with his split lip.

"Do you want to go out for drinks tonight?" she asked "Just you and me. Like the old time,"

"That'd be nice," he nodded and she smiled

"It's your round though," Clarissa told him

"It's always my round!" he protested and launched into an explanation of how it really should be _her_ buying _him_ a drink.

Clarissa smiled secretively to herself. She had managed to temporarily take Jack's mind off things for the time being. It didn't solve all the problems or heal all wounds but it was a start.

And she'd get a free drink out if it in the process.


	8. Grief

**8. Grief**

Clarissa knew something was wrong when she answered the phone. Although she was a scientist and dealt with empirical evidence, the moment the phone rang something had just felt so wrong about the situation in ways she just couldn't describe.

"Leo's dead," Jack had spluttered out the words that neither Jack wanted to say nor Clarissa wanted to hear

She listened to him try and hold back choked sobs for a few moments before speaking "I'm sorry," she hated herself for using what felt like such a meaningless phrase but no other words seemed to do at that point in time

"There was an explosion; he was trying to save everyone…" Jack broke off once more

"Are you hurt? Is Nikki hurt?" she asked trying to ascertain as much information as she could

"We're both fine," he told her "Nikki's gone to have a lie down, to try and get some rest. She's not slept since it happened. Neither of us can sleep. It keeps going round and round in my head…"

"It's okay Jack," Clarissa said softly, recognising the rising panic in his voice

"I don't know what to do," Jack's voice had lost all his usual bravado and now sounded so hollow. His breathing was ragged, punctuated by the occasional sob and sniffing away of tears

"Bring him home," Clarissa told him "Bring them all home. You need to take care of Nikki right now Jack. I know things are hard but we need to bring them home," she told him

"I saw him die," Jack blurted out before breaking into fresh sobs and Clarissa made soft soothing noises down the phone

"You need to be strong right now Jack," she said firmly "For Nikki and for Leo. He'd want you to take care of her,"

"But what about me?" Jack asked. He sounded so lost at the present time and it was starting to scare her.

"When you get back I'll be here for you Jack like I've always been. If I could be there now then I would, you know that. But you just need to be strong for a little while longer Jack. I'll be waiting when you get back," she said softly down the phone

"Promise?"

"I promise Jack. I'll be there waiting for you when you bring our family home,"

"I want him back,"

"I know," she soothed "When it came to Leo, you were a good judge of character. I'll be here for you when you get back," she reassured him

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, hardly caring about the cost of the international phone call. Clarissa could hear Jack softly sobbing down the phone and Jack knew his friend would be sitting there with silent tears streaming down her face as well. Words surpassed the situation but the two friends were united in their grief. Their world had been torn apart by the death of their boss and friend but in that small silence that was delivered by a crackly phone line and punctuated by sobbing laid the very best element of friendship. Being able to support each other thousands of miles away, in a time when words give way to grief and eventually to silence.


	9. Mentor

**9. Mentor**

The lab was buzzing away with scientists rushing to and fro examining evidence and delivering results. Her desk was tucked away in the corner, away from the hustle and bustle, in order to try and find some space to hear herself think. She worked best alone, where there was peace and quiet.

"Clarissa?" she looked up to see her boss standing in front of her desk, clutching a stack of files

"Can I help you Professor Brown?" she asked politely, setting down the evidence she was examining

"I wanted to speak with you about the new recruit who's starting tomorrow," the Professor said "He's a young lad and a little inexperienced. I was hoping you could take him under your wing and show him the ropes,"

"You want me to mentor him?" she frowned "Why me?"

"You're an experienced scientist and more than capable of handling difficult situations," he said precariously

"Why is the latter relevant?"

"This new recruit of ours. Well I've heard he can be a little unorthodox at times…"

"You mean he's a bit of an arsehole and no one else wants to mentor him" Clarissa said bluntly. The Professor blushed but eventually nodded "Fine," she sighed "I'll mentor him, but don't expect me to give him an easy time,"

"I would expect no less," the Professor said looking relieved she had agreed to his request "Here are the details," he said passing her a file "Oh and could you chase up the toxicology results for the murder case we had in last week. The Detective is on my case at the moment…"

"Of course," she said making a note on a scrap piece of paper, fully intending to make it her new mentees first job

When the Professor had gone, she looked down at the file he had given her. She scanned it quickly, trying to get a feel for the new recruit she would be 'babysitting'

Jack Hodgson.

Her mentee finally had a name. If this Jack Hodgson was as wild as his reputation made out, then she'd be more than ready to handle him. She was no push over and was already starting to sharpen her best sarcastic comebacks ready just for him. Grabbing a new piece of paper, she started to make a list of all the new jobs she'd get him to do. If he thought he was in for an easy ride, then he was mistaken. If this Jack Hodgson believed he was unorthodox then he'd get a new understanding of the word when he was faced with Clarissa's mentoring scheme.

List of Jobs for Jack Hodgson:

Chase up toxicology reports

Clean out the maggot tanks

Make me a coffee (Americano with a dash of milk)

….

When the list was done it ran to 4 pages (front and back of course). She knew already she was going to make such a wonderful mentor for Jack Hodgson!


	10. New Pastures

**10. New Pastures**

Jack was swinging around excitedly in his desk chair whilst he detailed the events of the earlier day, stressing the exhilarating moment where he had actually met Professor Leo Dalton at the Lyell Centre

"Did you get his autograph?" Clarissa asked with a grin

"No," Jack frowned but she could see that he actually looked slightly disappointed "I got something better though?"

"What's that?" she asked "A DNA sample so you can clone him and get your own Professor Dalton,"

"Funny," he said sarcastically "No, he offered me a job,"

"Oh," Clarissa said looking shocked. She'd worked well with Jack for few years now and they made a good team. She knew he'd move on eventually but she secretly hoped it wouldn't be so soon, nor would Jack be so eager to leave

"He's offered me the opportunity to set up my own Forensic Science department in the Lyell Centre," Jack explained enthusiastically "Like in the paper I told you about,"

"That's great Jack," she said trying to mirror his enthusiasm "Are you going to accept the job?"

"We," he said

"Sorry?" Clarissa asked looking thoroughly confused

"Are _we_ going to accept the job is the question you want to be asking," Jack explained "If I'm going to set up my own forensics department then I need my best team and my best friend on board,"

"I don't know Jack," she said cautiously "This is a big risk,"

"Where's your sense of adventure?" he asked spinning around violently on the chair and nearly falling off

"I'm going to have to accept aren't I?" she sighed "If only for the reason to keep you under control,"

"Great!" he grinned "Come to the Lyell Centre tomorrow. I'll mention your name to security and they'll show you the way to the lab. Our new life is going to be so great there I just know it!"

Clarissa smiled at her colleague's enthusiasm, her doubts and uneasiness not fully quelled but pushed to one side for the moment. She was actually quite looking forward to the new challenge and meeting this Professor Leo Dalton whom Jack spoke so much about. Clarissa had always wondered whether Jack's judge of his character was entirely accurate or not. Tomorrow, it seemed, she would find out.


End file.
